Micah Joseph Lebensohn (; (2 February 1828 – 17 February 1852), also known by the
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
Mikhal (), was one of the foremost poets and translators of the
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
in
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...
. He is best known for his innovative narrative
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
romances and
pantheistic
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ex ...
nature poetry, influenced by the
Romantic movement
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
. These are characterised by "a deep pathos and a beauty of expression," and noted for their "expression of the young poet's strong longing for life and of the dread of an early dissolution which preyed on his mind."
Biography
![Shirei_Bat-Tsiyyon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Shirei_Bat-Tsiyyon.png)
Micha Joseph Lebensohn was born on 2 February 1828 in
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...
, the son of ''
maskilic'' poet
Avraham Dov Ber Lebensohn
Abraham Dov Ber Lebensohn (; – November 19, 1878), also known by the pen names Abraham Dov-Ber Michailishker () and Adam ha-Kohen (), was a Lithuanian Jewish Hebraist, poet and educator.
Biography
Avraham Dov Ber Lebenson was born in Vilna, Li ...
(Adam ha-Kohen), where he received a thorough
Jewish education
Jewish education ( he, חינוך, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book", Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish cul ...
. Having met in his father's house many prominent Jewish writers, he developed an early interest in literature. He began to translate poetry into Hebrew at the age of twelve, and at the age of sixteen composed his first original poem, ''Ha-Aḥvah'' ('Fraternity'), written to his brother Noah. As a teenager, Lebensohn, besides his perfect command of
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, was privately tutored in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
.
By the late 1840s, Lebensohn discovered early symptoms of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. In 1849, on the advice of his doctor, he went to
sanatoria
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
abroad for medical treatment. During a winter in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, he attended the philosophy lectures of
Schelling Schelling is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
* Caroline Schelling (1763–1809), German intellectual
* Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854), German philosopher
* Felix Emanuel Schelling (1858–1945), American educat ...
at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
, and came under the influence of
German Romanticism. At the same time, he became closely acquainted with scholars
Shneur Sachs and
Leopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz ( he, יום טוב צונץ—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', yi, ליפמן צונץ—''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies (''Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the critical investigation ...
, who encouraged him to write original poetry on Jewish and Biblical heroes. He also visited the
spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...
s of
Salzbrunn and
Reinerz to seek relief from the disease.
He returned to Vilna in 1850, where he lived until his death shortly after his twenty-fourth birthday, on 17 February 1852. His last poem, ''Ha-tefilah'' ('Prayer'), is dedicated to 'Prayer, Daughter of Hearts'.
Literary career
In 1847, Lebensohn wrote a translation into Hebrew of the third and fourth books of
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
's ''
Æneid'' (after
Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
's German translation), under the title ''Harisut Troya'' ('The Destruction of Troy'). The following year he wrote translations of
Alfieri
Alfieri is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Anastase Alfieri (1892–1971), Italian entomologist
* Benedetto Alfieri (1700–1767), Italian architect
* Carmine Alfieri (born 1943), Italian Camorra boss
* Cesare Alfier ...
's ''
Saul
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...
'' (as ''Aḥarit Sha’ul'') and
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
's ''
Erlkönig
"Erlkönig" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It depicts the death of a child assailed by a supernatural being, the Erlking, a king of the fairies. It was originally written by Goethe as part of a 1782 Singspiel, .
"Erlkönig" has been ...
'' (as ''Melekh balahot''), among other works. Other compositions of this period include translations of
Arnault's ''La feuille'' (as ''Daliyyah niddaḥat'') and
Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
's ' (as ''Ha-Aravi ba-midbar''), as well as
elegies
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
on the death of
M. A. Günzburg.
While in Berlin, Lebensohn wrote a cycle of
lyric poems
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
, including ''Ahuva azuva'' ('Sorrowful Lover'), ''Yom huledet ahuvati'' ('My Beloved's Birthday'), ''Aḥot lanu'' ('A Sister to Us'), and ''Ḥag ha-aviv'' ('The Festival of Spring').
Lebensohn wrote his best known work, the poetry collection ''Shirei Bat-Tsiyyon'' ('Songs of a Daughter of Zion', published 1851, second edition 1869), in 1850. It consists of six
epic poems
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
on
Jewish subjects with naturalistic description: ''Shelomo'' ('
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
'), ''Kohelet'' ('
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...
'), ''Nikmat Shimshon'' ('
Samson
Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...
's Vengeance'), ''Yael ve-Sisra'' ('
Jael
Jael or Yael ( he, יָעֵל ''Yāʿēl'') is the name of the heroine who delivered Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan in the Book of Judges of the Hebrew Bible. After Barak demurred at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turned ...
and
Sisera
Sisera ( he, סִיסְרָא ''Sîsərā'') was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor, who is mentioned in of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by the forces of the Israelite tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali under the comm ...
'), ''Moshe al Har ha-Avarim'' ('
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
on
Mount Abarim'), and ''Yehuda ha-Levi'' ('
Judah Halevi
Judah Halevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; he, יהודה הלוי and Judah ben Shmuel Halevi ; ar, يهوذا اللاوي ''Yahuḏa al-Lāwī''; 1075 – 1141) was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, ...
'). The best-known among them, ''Shelomo'' and ''Kohelet'', contrast the optimism of a young King Solomon with the disillusionment of the monarch in his old age.
In the ''
Jewish Encyclopedia
''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
'' (1904),
Herman Rosenthal
Herman Rosenthal (October 6, 1843 – 1917) was an American author, editor, and librarian.
Biography
Rosenthal was born in Friedrichstadt (Jaunjelgava), Courland. He was educated at Bauske (Bauska) and Jakobstadt (Jēkabpils), graduating in 18 ...
and
Peter Wiernik
Peter Wiernik (March 6, 1865 – February 12, 1936) was a Russian-born Jewish American Yiddish journalist, newspaper editor, writer and historian.
Life
Wiernik was born on March 6, 1865 in Vilna, Russia, the son of Hirsch Wolf Wiernik and Sarah ...
wrote that
Legacy
After his death, a second volume of Lebensohn's poetry entitled ''Kinor Bat-Tsiyyon'' ('Violin of a Daughter of Zion', published in 1870) was assembled by his father. It contains, alongside a number of pieces translated from German, lyric poems, love poetry, and
lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ...
for the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
.
Lebensohn's brother-in-law,
Joshua Steinberg
Joshua Steinberg (russian: Осий (Иошуа) Штейнберг; born in Wilna 1839; died 1908) ...
, published a German translation of ''Shirei Bat-Tsiyyon'' entitled ''Gesänge Zion's'' in 1859. The poems ''Shelomo'' and ''Kohelet'' were published in French translation, and ''Yehuda ha-Levi'' in Russian. In 1895, a six-volume collection of his poems and those of his father appeared under the title ''Kol shire Ada"m u-Mikh"al''.
Lebensohn's work had a strong influence on
Judah Leib Gordon, J. L. Gordon, his contemporary and friend, and other lyric poets of the next generation. A noted elegy entitled ''Mikhal Dim'ah'' (in the second part of ''Shirei Sefat Kodesh'') on his death was written by his father. J. L. Gordon's wrote an allegorical drama, ''Ho Aḥ'' ('O, Brother'), which is placed in the first part of ''Kol Shiray Yehudah'', and
Samuel David Luzzatto
Samuel David Luzzatto ( he, שמואל דוד לוצאטו, ; 22 August 1800 – 30 September 1865), also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal (), was an Italian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement.
Early ...
penned a ''
kinah
Kinah, ḳinah or qinah (plural kinoth, qinot, qinoth) is Hebrew for a dirge or lamentation. Its general meaning is a dirge or lament, especially as sung by Jewish professional mourning women. Specifically, it can refer to one of the many Hebrew ...
'' in Lebenson's honor. Gordon also published the ''kinah'' ''Ofel Bat-Tsiyyon'' in Lebensohn's memory in 1877.
Published works
*
*
*
*
References
External links
Poems by Lebensohnat the
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebensohn, Micah Joseph
1828 births
1852 deaths
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
19th-century poets
Epic poets
French–Hebrew translators
Hebrew-language poets
Hebrew-language writers
Jewish poets
Jewish translators
Lyric poets
People of the Haskalah
Romantic poets
Translators from German
Translators from Italian
Translators from Polish
Translators of Virgil
Translators to Hebrew
Tuberculosis deaths in Lithuania
Writers from Vilnius